DIALING INTO KNOWLEDGE

The telecom industry isn't often known for its customer service, but The Carphone Warehouse (TCW), a European mobile-phone retailer, recently earned a Kana Summit Award in that category. TCW began using Kana for email management two years ago and then added Kana IQ for knowledge management. The solutions have helped improve service, but TCW's head of knowledge management Anne Wood says the success goes beyond tools. Before deploying Kana IQ, TCW relied on an often-unstable home-grown system, which had become more of a dumping ground for resources than a cohesive outlet for customer support.

DIALING INTO KNOWLEDGE
The telecom industry isn’t often known for
its customer service, but The Carphone
Adhering to Higher Quality
Warehouse (TCW), a European mobile- New York Life streamlines its workforce, vastly improving
phone retailer, recently earned a Kana
Summit Award in that category.
internal metrics
I
TCW, which has three contact centers
t’s hard to improve upon what
serving 1,700 retail locations across nine
can’t be measured—or at least
countries, administers customer service
upon what can’t be spelled out to
according to five tenets, one of which is
“The reputation of the whole company is
workers. Many argue that metrics,
in the hands of each individual.” both internal and customer-facing, drive
With that in mind, says Anne Wood, the contact center. The lack thereof was
TCW’s head of knowledge management, a slowly building problem facing the
the key is empowering agents with con- Tampa, Fla., contact center of insurance
sistent and organized knowledge. TCW provider New York Life (NYL).
began using Kana for email management “Ideally, we’re committed to provid-
two years ago and then added Kana IQ for ing best-in-class service for our clients,
knowledge management. The solutions
and we must make sure we’re keeping
have helped improve service,
up with our company’s philosophy that
Tools take but Wood says the success goes
‘We’re always there for them,’ ” says
beyond tools. “You have to put
effort. “And a lot of effort into making them
Gian Brackin, NYL’s assistant vice pres-
ident of system and reports. “We’re in could take on others that can be more
they don’t work work,” she says. “And they
charge of making sure we do things that complex and make it more interesting,”
don’t work if you don’t put the
if you don’t put customer at the heart of it.” make sense for our clients and custom- she says. “Being able to give agents goals
the customer at Before deploying Kana IQ, ers—and that includes our contact cen- and [to allow them to] manage them-
TCW relied on an often-unstable ter agents.” selves was also a key focus for us.”
the heart of it.” home-grown system, which had On top of that, NYL’s Tampa contact To make the shift away from Excel
become more of a dumping center happens to be the service provider spreads